Professors Kick Off New Cultural Lecture Series in Alexandria

January 20th, 2011

Professors of Patrick Henry College will brave the Virginia winter to present lectures exploring Libertarianism, “Islamism,” Materialism and more at an Alexandria church in an original, joint lecture series project.

Dr. David Aikman, Professor of History and Writer in Residence at PHC and former senior and foreign correspondent with TIME magazine

PHC President Dr. Graham Walker will kick off the eight-week series, called “A Christian View of the ‘Isms’ of Our Day,” at Christ the King church this Sunday, Jan. 23. The series is offered by the church’s Education and Formation class.

Christ the King church welcomes members of the public to attend these one-hour lectures, which will begin each Sunday at 9:15 a.m., followed by the church’s regular Sunday morning worship service at 10:30 a.m.

Dr. Walker will lecture on libertarianism, arguing that libertarianism is not merely about law and economics. Instead, it provides a comprehensive framework of metaphysical and moral meaning.

Dr. David Aikman will speak on Jan. 30 on the rise of the aggressive “New Atheism”. On February 6, Christ the King’s rector, David Glade, will speak on materialism. Dr. Mark Mitchell lectures on Feb. 13 on the philosophical and cultural roots of spiritual consumerism.

The series will take a one-week break for Presidents Day, and will then resume Feb. 27 with “Islamism.” The two-part subject will begin with Aikman describing the core beliefs of Islam as a religion and the way the religion has been turned by Islamists into a political ideology. On March 6 Dr. Darrel Cox will lecture on how Christians should respond to and engage with Muslims. Dr. Neal Doran will present the final “-ism” -- Darwinism -- on March 13.

PHC and Christ the King church hope that this series will be the first of several that PHC faculty will provide, and PHC envisions offering this option to other DC-area churches that might be interested in augmenting their adult Sunday school programs with a package of lectures.

Any DC-area church that is interested in having this lecture series delivered to its adult Sunday school class can contact David Halbrook, PHC’s Director of Communications, at (540) 441-8722.

The Anglican church, a plant of the historic The Falls Church, meets at 1801 N. Quaker Lane, Alexandria. Its website is found at www.ctkalexandria.org.